Coopers Hawk Working Barn Area Hard

[centrarchid]

It has been well over a week since any Cooper's Hawk has been consistently working barn area. Songbirds also dispersed. Rabbits also moving off property making bunnies all over the place. Will be doing prescribed burn for about half of barnyard are tomorrow. Remaining rabbits will likely leave at that time and the Red-shouldered Hawk I bet will spend a lot more time visiting. I am a little nervous about the Red-tailed Hawks trying to do same.

 

[kyleigh]

Stumbled upon this thread. It's super interesting, I love all of the updates. I've had a few predators flying over my coop lately. I'm not skilled enough to identify them, im guessing hawks or falcons tho. So far no attacks, but I don't worry to much as my rooster would probably show them! Lol

 

[microchick]

I get a magazine put out by the Missouri dept. of Conservation. Last issue had an article about the growing Bald Eagle population in the state and it gave a county by county rundown of the number of active nests. Our county, Macon, has at least 8 active nests, one of the counties with the highest concentration of nests. I was telling our neighbor about it last week as he has recently purchased over 50 hens and he just chuckled and said that he wasn't surprised. He'd been seeing an eagle in the trees across the road from us for a few mornings in a row.

I guess I need stronger net. We have a surplus of Red Tails around. You can hear them screaming at one another on just about any given day and it isn't unusual to see them sitting in one of the trees in our yard eyeing the 'buffet'. Luckily they are easily chased. Needless to say there is also a surplus of little hawks around, but in all honesty I don't worry about them nearly as much as I do the big boys. Hens with chicks are kept in wire covered pens and I have a surplus of roosters to watch over my 23 hens. Everything is net covered. I'm just waiting for the day when I get to call MoDOC and tell them to come get the bird of prey that's tangled up in my netting.

My luck it'll be one of their nesting Bald Eagles..............

 

[centrarchid]

Bald Eagles fly over my place daily but they do not hunt much. They do fish ponds and feed off road kill but I think vegetation here too dense for their taste. Recent prescribed burn may be conducive to Red-tails but for most part only Red-shouldered Hawks come in and they are not an issue.

 

[centrarchid]

Over last few days I released immature games and the entire Missouri Dominique flock to free-range. An adult female Coopers Hawk has been working area with a consistent route going after song birds. She is pretty. I do not know if she is same individual that took a stag a few weeks back. They are hard to tell apart. Yesterday something changed. One game pullet was missing and another had lost a great deal of feathering on breast and back. Damaged pullet otherise seems OK but serious injury required to change behavior. Both pullets are smallest free-ranging birds by far. Thinking Coopers decided to go after chickens again, I penned remaining game pullets in larger hawk proof pen. They are small enough for hawk to kill easily.

This morning, being sensitized to hawk issue, I followed Lucy (female German Pointer) to barn where one rooster as making a staccato alarm call indicating a predator on the ground. Lucy got to barn before I could get a visual on what going on. Hawk flushed from ground on back side of barn. Hawk appeared to be in area chickens used for dust bathing. If correct then something really odd going on. A couple game stags were probably within ten feet of hawk and also on the ground. Rooster (harem master) making alarm call as with Missouri Dom as about 35 feet to the north and all flock birds where in a group tighter than typical for foraging. When Lucy flushed hawk, alarm calls giving by multiple birds. Harem master is Missouri Dom stag known to go after hawks more than most earlier. Either hawk is dust bathing or it is trying to cut smaller birds away from flock so it can go after them. Harem master does not seem vested in protecting juvenile games but he is vested in the Missouri Dom adult females and a pair of game hens. The two game stags in close proximity to the hawk while it was on the ground may have been challenging it.


This new stuff for me. Never have I had hawks work an area so hard. The bamboo stand / cane break may be the most important reason for this change. Once Red-shouldered hawks come in the Coopers should stay away. I am pretty sure the Red-shouldered Hawks run the Coopers off.

 

[centrarchid]

Will post pictures on this later today. I wish hawk would let me sneak up with phone camera. Phone cameras not good for recording wildlife.

 

[centrarchid]

This is getting into the realm of perverse. Today, kids and I spent time working on pens about 50 yards from barn in direction of house before I walked up to barn. Sitting right next to large blue bucket I use to mix feed in, was a juvenile female Coopers Hawk preening itself. Height above ground was waist level. Several chickens, including hens were less than 10 feet from the hawk and paying no attention to it. The hawk was very close to a communal nest used by free-ranging Missouri Dominques. Hawk flushed only after I got closer to it than the chickens were.

I wonder if this is going on during the week? The hawk is clearly becoming habituated to me as I was in plane sight even when with kids while working on pens and for the walk up.

 

[centrarchid]

Something really different going on that is similar to what I saw involving a Red-tailed Hawk as a kid.

A female Cooper's Hawk in age-1 (not yet adult plumage) is coming into backyard area that has a lot of small trees and shrubs coming up. When she comes in the songbirds are not hiding nor trying to leave area. Hawk is flying about through the trees landing frequently. It is looking for something and I am pretty sure that something is young songbirds, especially nestlings. The songbirds are not mobbing the hawk but their close proximity is distracting it. A month ago the same hawk would chase the adult songbirds.

When hawk left area it displayed white on its back which I take to mean it holding a territory. I am pretty sure an adult pair also holds sway over my place so this female is trying to find her own place possibly at their expense.

 

[centrarchid]

Just a bit ago I looked out to barn and saw a hawk flapping upside over pen. Called kids up and we went to see what deal was. Coopers Hawk (adult male) got his middle toe tangled up in deer netting used to keep Great-horned Owl from walking over top of pens. Hawk was tangled pretty good taking better than 10 minutes to fully untangle. My boy had to hang on to hawk while I ran to get scissors. Hawk bit me several times and screamed a bit but could not break skin. Red-tailed Hawks tougher on that account and Great-horned Owl way tougher. This guy was not too hard to undue relative to GHO tangled in poultry netting. GHO can break your skin. Kids got a kick out of it. Hawk lucky this happened on a Sunday otherwise would have been upside down and vulnerable for much longer. It is amazing how a dainty little bird can kill an adult chicken,

but games near by would have challenged that. The hawk comes into barn almost every day to go after songbirds which is something I like.

 

[casportpony]

Just a bit ago I looked out to barn and saw a hawk flapping upside over pen. Called kids up and we went to see what deal was. Coopers Hawk (adult male) got his middle toe tangled up in deer netting used to keep Great-horned Owl from walking over top of pens. Hawk was tangled pretty good taking better than 10 minutes to fully untangle. My boy had to hang on to hawk while I ran to get scissors. Hawk bit me several times and screamed a bit but could not break skin. Red-tailed Hawks tougher on that account and Great-horned Owl way tougher. This guy was not too hard to undue relative to GHO tangled in poultry netting. GHO can break your skin. Kids got a kick out of it. Hawk lucky this happened on a Sunday otherwise would have been upside down and vulnerable for much longer. It is amazing how a dainty little bird can kill an adult chicken,

but games near by would have challenged that. The hawk comes into barn almost every day to go after songbirds which is something I like.

Great pictures! Glad you were there to help it.